Jill Biden's former spokesman is praising JD Vance and backing Republicans.
Hakeem Jeffries was about to take his money.
But Hakeem Jeffries ran after he got caught at a fundraiser linked to Donald Trump.
Jeffries Had One Rule – Until He Didn't
Hakeem Jeffries spent Tuesday lecturing Jared Golden about party loyalty.
Golden, a Maine Democrat retiring from Congress, committed the sin of endorsing Republican Rep. Mike Lawler – a moderate running in a district Kamala Harris carried in 2024.
"Lawler holds one of just three Republican seats in the country that Kamala Harris carried in 2024,” Golden said. “Representing districts like ours forces you to work for people who disagree with you, and it teaches you that those people are not your enemies. They are your neighbors."
https://twitter.com/BulwarkOnline/status/2102537402719907867?s=20
Jeffries called the endorsement a "smoke-and-mirrors ploy" and labeled Lawler a "Trump sycophant."
"Mike Lawler is a partisan hack and Trump sycophant who Cait Conley will defeat in November,” he said. “In desperation, he is peddling an 11th-hour endorsement from a retiring congressmember who represents an out-of-town district more than 400 miles away.”
"This smoke-and-mirrors ploy will do nothing to change the outcome of the race. The election will be decided by the people of Westchester and the lower Hudson Valley," he added.
That same day, Jeffries was scheduled to headline a fundraiser hosted by Ballard Partners – a lobbying firm founded by Brian Ballard, one of Donald Trump's biggest fundraisers.
The event featured Michael LaRosa, Jill Biden's former press secretary, who now works as a partner at the same Trump-allied firm.
LaRosa has publicly praised JD Vance's foreign policy, attacked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, signed a petition urging Mamdani to skip the 9/11 memorial, and backed a Republican – former Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers – in a Senate race over the progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.
Jeffries was ready to take money from all of it.
The Cancellation Came Within the Hour
The Bulwark published the story first, headlining it "Jeffries to Fundraise With Fox News's Favorite Democrat."
Within an hour of Bulwark editor Tim Miller sharing the piece on X, Jeffries pulled out entirely.
https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/2102766643999088971?s=20
Miller updated the headline: "Jeffries Abruptly Cancels Fundraiser With Fox News's Favorite Dem."
Jeffries' spokesman Justin Chermol told The Bulwark the event "is not on his calendar and it is not taking place" – then pivoted to touting Jeffries' fundraising totals for the cycle.
The question nobody is asking Jeffries: why was it ever on his calendar in the first place?
LaRosa had praised Jeffries for meeting with Jared Kushner, writing on X that he loved Jeffries' "pragmatism" and "willingness to work with anyone."
That praise was fine to accept – it just couldn't be seen in public.
The Left Is Eating Its Own – Again
Here's what nobody in the media will tell you: Jeffries didn't cancel because LaRosa works for a Trump-aligned firm.
He canceled because you found out.
This is the same Democrat Party that toppled two of its own House incumbents in New York City primaries this June – replaced by socialists who think the problem with Democrats is that they're too friendly with people like LaRosa.
Jeffries is trying to survive both sides of that war.
https://twitter.com/foxnewspolitics/status/2102533545638101270?s=20
Publicly, he calls moderate Democrats partisan hacks and crushes anyone who works across the aisle.
Privately, he's collecting checks from the guy who praises JD Vance and lobbies for Trump's allies.
That's not hypocrisy – that's a business model.
And it works perfectly, right up until the moment someone publishes the fundraiser invite.
Sources:
- Kevin Haggerty, "Hakeem Jeffries was headed to a fundraiser with a familiar Fox News Democrat — then abruptly backed out," Western Journal, September 23, 2026.
- Misty Severi, "Jeffries dismisses Jared Golden's endorsement of Mike Lawler, describes him as a 'partisan hack,'" Washington Examiner, September 22, 2026.
- Ballard Partners, "Michael LaRosa Joins Ballard Partners as Washington Office Partner," BallardPartners.com, September 6, 2023.
- Taegan Goddard, "Centrist Democrats Are Freaking Out," Political Wire, June 25, 2026.
